That most startups fail far short of sustainability (let alone acquisition) is a statistic that doesn’t seem to be deterring today’s entrepreneurs.

Good.

We can’t win if we don’t play.

But the narrative that’s been emerging out of the Lean Movement says, “don’t just roll the dice.”

Starting a business will always be risky but there are more ways than ever to practically reduce risk early in the product development process, such as Alex Osterwalder’s “prototyping business models just like you prototype products,” and Steve Blank’s sell-before-you-build concept of customer development.

What these voices are offering us are frameworks for predicting the success of your business in advance and ideas for preventing pitfalls.

Most recently among these product frameworks is The Hook Model - a reverse analysis of the mechanisms that drive today’s stickiest products.

So how does it work?

External Triggers. You may already be so accustomed to the experience of your favorite products that you overlook the hooks that first brought you in. Commonplace functions such as email alerts, notifications and even app icons are all what Eyal calls “external triggers” that cue your mind to act.

Action. “If the user does not take action, the trigger is useless...Action must be easier than thinking.” Triggers prompt the action but it’s the (promise of) reward in step 3 that motivate users to act.

Variable Reward. Humans are rewards-driven, but Eyal flags a key principle: “Predictable loops don't create desire.” As an example, the first time we discover the light turns on when we open our fridge door, we may feel a hit of excitement, but soon after the response becomes predictable and boring. By contrast, it’s the promise of different treats waiting for us in the fridge that keeps us coming back. Anybody who has ever opened the fridge again and again even after knowing what’s inside has demonstrated the habit-forming power of variable rewards.

Investment. Simply put, whenever a user invests time, data, effort, social capital or money, they are more likely to return. Skeptical? How many of you are still trying to reach 100% profile completion on LinkedIn?

Internal Triggers. Like word of mouth as a marketing channel, internal triggers are the hidden fifth step that habit-forming products successfully unlock, creating a forever loop back into the product. Unlike external triggers which are visual indicators, internal triggers fuse with our thoughts and feelings to synonymize certain products with certain emotions. An example Eyal describes is how Facebook photos trigger memories of social experiences and, over time, Facebook itself becomes a place for “having social feelings.”

To learn more about Hooked and regular great reads on human behavior, head over to Nir’s website or give him a follow on Twitter @nireyal.

An Exclusive Interview with Nir Eyal

Recently, 100 PM sat down with Nir himself to ask some burning questions about product development and solicit fresh insights on the Hook Model, since the book’s first release in 2014.

100 Product Managers began with a mission to interview one hundred active product managers in Los Angeles - from startups to enterprise. We didn't realize we were also pioneering the web's first consolidated and comprehensive resource for product management topics.